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Parade, luminaries pay tribute to vets

ASHEBORO — The 24th annual Randolph County Veterans Day Parade is scheduled to roll through downtown Asheboro at 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 11, which is Veterans Day.

The parade, sponsored by the Randolph County Veterans Council, will travel north on Church Street, turn right onto Sunset Avenue, then left onto Fayetteville Street, before ending at the Randolph County Veterans Memorial at the historic Randolph County Courthouse on Worth Street.

There, on the steps of the old courthouse at 5:30 p.m., the Pilot Club of Asheboro will conduct its annual luminary ceremony to honor veterans. The featured speaker will be retired U.S. Army Col. Randy Timmerman.

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The first year the parade was organized more than 20 years ago, there were seven entries and just a handful of spectators. By the mid-2000s, there were more than 150 entries — and some 2,000 people lined the streets to view the procession and honor veterans.

Parade participation and spectator numbers have remained about the same every year when the weather was good, as is forecast for this weekend.

The procession will last about an hour. This year’s grand marshal will be Hal Winslow, who is the commander of the Randolph County Honor Guard.

Members of the honor guard will serve as the color guard for the parade, according to parade director Lucky Luckado. Among the parade entries will be Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, two platoons of Montagnards (who fought side by side with U.S. Special Forces troops in Vietnam), fire trucks and lots of antique cars and trucks.

Parade entry applications are available at all Randolph County libraries. For more information, contact Luckado at 498-7146.

The parade rain date is Saturday, Nov. 17, at 3 p.m.

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The Cub Scouts of Troop 527 of Asheboro’s First United Methodist Church will help put out the luminaries in front of the old courthouse on Worth Street; members of the Pilot Club will light them at dusk, with the service following. Chairs will be available.

Zoe Faircloth and the Community Choir will present the music. The Southwestern Randolph High School JROTC, under the leadership of Col. Larry Jessup, will present the colors. Dr. George Roberson, of First United Methodist, will give the invocation, followed by Timmerman.

Pilot Club members will read the names of all honorees, then members of the Randolph County Honor Guard will present a 21-gun salute. The service will end with the playing of Taps.

Timmerman is the retired director of human resources for Klaussner Home Furnishings. He entered the U.S. Army through the College Option Officer Candidate Program and was commissioned as a second lieutenant after graduating from Infantry OCS in 1968.

He served as a mobile advisory team commander, advising a Vietnamese regional force infantry battalion and Vietnamese Ranger units on combat operations in Vietnam.

He also served as commander of two companies, an aviation battalion and secretary of the general staff in the 82d Airborne Division; as the XVIII Airborne Corps aviation officer during combat operations in Panama; the deputy brigade commander for the 18th Aviation Brigade in Fort Bragg and later as brigade commander of the 6th Aviation Brigade in Alaska; an executive officer on the staff of the Army Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel in the Pentagon; chief of staff for the Eighth U.S. Army and assistant deputy of staff for U.S. Forces Korea; and the Army adviser on the country team of the U.S. ambassador to Korea.

Among his awards and decorations are the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star and the Combat Infantryman Badge.

To purchase a luminary or to get more information, call 953-2561. Luminaries, which are $5, can also be purchased by sending the name and branch of service of the veteran to be honored to: Pilot Club of Asheboro, 612 Redding Road, Asheboro, NC 27203.

Make checks payable to the Pilot Club of Asheboro. Proceeds will fund the club’s community projects.